The third season of Thailand Super Series (TSS) ended on a real high note as the Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival dished up a real thriller for its ninth edition. At the top of the tree Super Car’s glamorous Class 1-GT3 and Class 2-GTM ended the year with non stop explosive racing, five races to be precise as for the first time the latter category enjoyed a pressure filled triple-header.
The stakes were doubly high in Super Car as there was of course the glory of winning the most prestigious individual races in Thai motorsport but also the titles in both classes were still open. The records fell too as the first ever former Formula 1 driver to win a championship in Thailand, Khun Tomáš Enge, took the prize in the top class while in Class 2-GTM we welcomed the youngest champion.
In Super Car Class 1-GT3 The Czech superstar wound up the big Camaro in the first race, thundered away at the green lights and simply disappeared into the distance, his rivals had no answers to his pace and that was enough to confirm him as the champion. It’s a sign of the changing times here that a driver who has won the Le Mans 24 Hours and raced in F1 is now a champion in Thailand.
In the second race a thrilling showdown between Khun Tomáš and his teammate Khun Jack seemed all set to play out, a duel between master and apprentice, the highly experienced pro versus the Thai driver with probably more raw speed than any other. It didn’t last too long though as the Camaro soon cried enough and Khun Tomáš couldn’t add to his three straight wins on the streets of Bangsaen.
In Class 2-GTM B-Quik brought in guest driver Khun Darryl O’Young for a second year to bolster their strength and for a second year no one had any answers to him at the finishline although he faced relentless pressure throughout the weekend. In the end though he walked away with three poles and three wins from the three races and added to his double pole and double win on his first visit here last year that made it five straight poles and five wins. If he chooses to come back next year for a third time everyone is going to have to dig much deeper.
Then to the Super Car Class 2-GTM champion. When you are regarded as Thailand’s most promising young prospect and you are learning your craft in touring cars then the pressure isn’t really too high and even on your graduation year in Super Car when you are driving an unloved Porsche that is weighed down by ballast and about as unpleasant as it gets, then little is also expected. But when the championship winning team signs you up and gives you a front running Ferrari to drive the pressure goes straight through the roof.
That was the state of play for Khun Kantasak Kusiri this year as Singha Motorsport Team Thailand called him up to drive alongside the reigning champion Khun Voravud Bhirombhakdi. Few people at this level of motorsport get handed a front running car to drive, he was expected to win the title and he had to win the title. His team expected it, the paddock did and so did the fans. It was as simple as that. That’s a heck of lot of pressure to place on a small, slender, quiet 24-year-old driver.
In the first race of the year a technical issue hit Khun Kantasak and that cost him a maximum points score meaning he would be fighting to recover lost ground all season. The pressure was really on him all year and when you are Khun Kantasak every missed gear and every locked brake is noticed and pointed out. But when the going gets tough the tough get going and the ‘wonderkid’ dug in, soaked up the pressure and when it came to the final showdown on the streets of Bangsaen, where many big reputations have been broken, he put it all together superbly, calmly dealing with the established star names jostling around him for the victory on these narrow and treacherous streets and delivered three big points scores from the three races to wrap up the title in style. His engineer, Khun Don Chiewcharnvlichkij, ubbed him ‘The Rocket’ and it seemed wholly appropriate.
But that’s not to forget his rival. Khun Craig Corliss is a driver who never gives up and never gives less than 110%, but the streets of Bangsaen quite simply don’t suit the big Holden. He dug in and drove three totally committed races that saw him fighting up the order, in particular in the second race, where he disdainfully barged his way through a mid order that was seemingly unable to get the passes in, stands out. The big New Zealander left as a very deserved vice champion and reconfirmed his status as a crowd favourite.
It didn’t stop there though and there was thrilling action throughout the running order in both classes and it was all fought out in front of thousands of fans in the blistering dry heat of Bangsaen which was tipping into the mid 30 degrees daily. So that was the ninth edition, the biggest and best to be held yet, while it really was the perfect curtain raiser to the prestigious tenth anniversary edition coming up in 2016.
Super Car Class 2-GTM: Friday (Race 1 of 3)
Khun Darryl on his second visit to Bangsaen picked up where he had left off last December to claim pole position for all three races in qualifying and he duly lined up the #27 Porsche in P1 for Friday’s ‘extra’ race, the being the first time that Super Car has ever enjoyed three races squeezed into a single weekend.
Alongside him was the young championship hopeful, Khun Kantasak, who had seen the momentum swing towards him as he planted the #34 Ferrari on the front row while the classification leader, albeit by just 2 points, Khun Craig Corliss would have to start from down on the fifth row.
Right behind Khun Darryl and Khun Kantasak Row 2 would be made up of the two Vattana Motorsport Lamborghini LP520s of Khun Jack Lemvard and Khun Akihiro Asai, neither driver though is the title reckoning but both have big reputations to maintain and both clearly wanted to notch up a decent results here.
There was one car missing from the grid though, the #12 Ferrari 458 Challenge of Khun Bhurit Bhirombhakdi was withdrawn with suspected brake issues. That car had really been in the wars this week and had required a new front end after practice. Khun Bhurit, who is in his Super Car rookie year and claimed his first podium finish at the last round, would however have two more races here as the team set about rectifying the fault.
Khun Darryl led the snarling pack away on the formation lap but the field was also thinned out by the withdrawal of Khun Pinet Piyaoui who was starting his first TSS race in his newly acquired Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, which is actually the car previously raced by Khun Aekarat Discharoen, available as the team leader upgraded to a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup for this race.
At the green lights the field made a clean getaway and there was the usual bit of jostling as the bunched up pack of ‘GT’ cars braked together to swing sharply left and uphill through Turn 2. However Khun Darryl, with clear air in front of the black and yellow #26 Porsche was able to pull out a couple of car lengths as the cars raced up and then back down the tricky Khao Sammuk section.
Khun Kantasak tucked in behind the Hong Kong driver but there weren’t going to be any heroics from the young Ferrari pilot as with Khun Darryl not eligible for championship points his current P2 would deliver 20 precious points and with two races still to come and the title race still seeing him neck to neck with Khun Craig, who was at the tail end of the points positions, this was an unrivalled opportunity for Khun Kantasak to seize the advantage and pull out some clear space at the front before the weekend’s remaining two races loomed into view.
While Khun Darryl was able to open up a useful gap at the front, which he was able to maintain over the full race, eventually completing the shortened 15 lap race with 5.088 seconds in hand while Khun Kantasak superbly defended his P2, and the resulting maximum point score, fending off early pressure from Khun Jack who had harried him hard. Khun Kantasak’s engineers were happy to keep him in P2 and he didn’t put a foot wrong all race, driving with the style and demeanour of a champion elect.
After pressing the #34 Ferrari pretty hard over the first few laps Khun Jack couldn’t get on close enough terms as the race progressed and drifted away. Behind Khun Jack his teammate Khun Akihiro was struggling with a lack of downforce after loosing his front bumper early and he would look after the ‘red’ Gallardo to the flag, coming home 3.199 seconds back to give Vattana Unity Motorsport a strong 3-4 finish and a double trip to the podium.
Fifth place was the early preserve of Khun Nattavude Charoensukhawatana in the fastest of the trio of factory-run Toyotas and he had one foot on the podium until he lightly tapped a barrier which was enough to damage his left hand steering rod and after his pace dropped off for a couple of laps he pitted and retired. That helped give Khun Henk J. Kiks the final step on the podium and with both B-Quik drivers’ on the rostrum steps they also nabbed the Teams’ trophy.
The Dutchman had chased the Toyota hard for the first half of the race but was simply unable to find a way past; waiting for a mistake from Khun Nattavude is a pointless exercise. However once the #39 car slowed the black and yellow Audi was able to swiftly chase down Khun Akihiro’s Lamborghini. Although he closed the gap right down, Khun Henk was managing braking issues and got the #26 Audi well out of shape through the chicane with five laps to go which cost him a second and dropped him right into the clutches of the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup of Khun Aekarat Discharoen.
However the A Motorsport driver, who was debuting his newly acquired car, got stuck behind the Toyota of Khun Manat Kulapalanont all the way through the roundabout section as they were both lapping him while Khun Henk made a quick and clean pass and that opened the gap back up. The Audi driver was able to make the ground back up to the Lamborghini over the final laps to finish the race right on Japanese driver’s tail and the gap at the flag was less than half a seconds although Khun Aekarat also closed in again as the three cars finished together.
Behind Khun Henk came Khun Aekarat and the A Motorsport driver had certainly chased the #26 Audi all the way from the green flag to the checkered flag but was never able to find a way through or get close enough really. This was his first race in the car though and without any testing before the week had kicked off on Tuesday it was mainly a learning curve.
Khun Suttiluck Buncharoen in the other new ‘991’ finished next up; he had a quiet race in the car he’s ran all year in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia but which only arrived in Thailand a few days before the event. He was 16 seconds down the road from Khun Aekarat but had to fend off the attentions of Khun Voravud Bhirombhakdi in the second Singha Motorsport Team Thailand Ferrari.
Khun Voravud, who surrendered his championship crown this weekend, was hit with a 10-place grid penalty and started from thirteenth place. However he showed great pace, kept out of trouble in the #1 Ferrari and steadily chipped his way up into the points and past other midfield cars. Khun Voravud spent a couple of laps swarming all over the back of the #38 Toyota of Khun Nattapong Horthongkum before passing him with a neat move on the inside into the sharp lefthander at Laem Tan Cape. He would finish in P8.
Khun Craig saw his slender championship advantage evaporate as he struggled to get a full lap pace out of the big Holden Commodore VE around Bangsaen – and there was really just one turn that was completely killing it for him. He dropped time at the mountain hairpin in qualifying and that cost him valuable track position on the grid, from then on he was always fighting back.
On the back foot and with the title turning against him the big New Zealander did what he does best, he dug deep and didn’t concede an inch. He made up places at the start and elbowed his way in front of the 991 of Khun Suttiluck but his best efforts weren’t to be enough and he lost a chunk of time during the race when he got the ‘V8 Supercar’ stuck at the hairpin and had to reverse back while in the meantime the field had passed him by. His title hopes might have evaporated but his reputation as a ‘never say die’ fighter was certainly further polished.
Three points though was a very meager haul compared to Khun Kantasak who collected a maximum score of 20 points. That swung the title advantage very firmly towards the Ferrari driver; a 2 point deficit for Khun Kantasak before the lights turned green had in the space of 15 laps become a 15 point advantage. The New Zealander, who was a massive 43 seconds adrift of Khun Voravud in front, was left scratching his head and hoping luck would come his way over the remaining two races.
The top ten was wrapped up by the #38 Toyota 86 of Khun Nattapong while his teammate Khun Manat, who plodded round to finish in P12, was the final classified runner. Between them came Khun Thamrong Mahadumrongkul who was debuting his new Ferrari 458 Challenge at Bangsaen for the first time and was keeping well clear of the barriers as he starts to learn about the mid engine ‘GT’ car. The Super 2000 front-runner was using the weekend as an extended ‘test session’ and was chipping away at his times.
There was a lengthy retirement list, which was headed by the returning Nissan GT-R R35 driven by Khun Traitanit Chimtawan. After barely lasting a full lap during the practice and qualifying sessions the GTR completed 14 laps but conked down with sensor failure on the penultimate lap of the race. Khun Shuipang dropped out after 10 laps with a broken gearbox and without a spare unit the team set upon Khun Suttiluck’s previous Porsche 997, which would be sent down from Bangkok overnight to provide a donor gearbox. Khun Nattavude retired on the eighth lap while the other DNF was Khun Pinet who was gone before the green lights.
Super Car Class 1-GT3: Saturday (Race 1 of 2)
The championship points mathematics was something of a formality in reality, but Khun Tomáš got the job done in the big Camaro to wrap up the title with an emphatic win in the first race and that was also his third consecutive win at Bangsaen in Class 1-GT3 after his double victory here last year.
The Czech superstar simply powered away at the rolling start and he had built up a 12 second advantage at the front by the time the checkered flag was flourished while he also posted the fastest lap, in 1:39.699, on the penultimate lap of the 15 lap race. It was ‘mission accomplished’ and his first Thai championship title in the bag.
Khun Tomáš had a trio of the team’s signature Lamborghini Gallardo machines in his wake as Reiter Vattana Motorsport retained their stranglehold on Super Car Class 1-GT3 with a 1-2-3-4 finish. The runners’ up spot went to Khun Narasak; he was making his first start in the top class driving one of the teams’ two Gallardo Extenso R-EX machines having raced the ‘wide body’ car for the first time in GT Asia Series last month. But that was around Chang International Circuit, a totally different proposition to Bangsaen, so he had a steep learning curve all weekend. As one would expect though he drove a very smooth and tidy race to finish in P2.
Third place went to Khun Umar A. Rahman who bounced back after a difficult start to the week that had included major repairs being required to the front end of his #14 Gallardo while the fourth Reiter Vattana car home was the #44 ‘Extenso’ of Khun Jack.
Having a very busy weekend as he was also driving in Super Car Class 2-GTM and Super 2000, Khun Jack was busy bedding in a new Gallardo Extenso R-EX, a retro fit upgrade made to one of the team’s existing stable of cars, built up to full specification with wider rear track and more powerful engine. As such the first race was really an extended shakedown session test to iron out the ‘new car’ bugs and the first bug to appear in the race, or rather appear just as the pack were waved away on the warm-up lap, was the starter motor. That meant Khun Jack had to make a pitlane start and with Class 1-GT3 being merged with the Class 3-GTC for the weekend Khun Jack first had to pick his way through the lower class cars before he could latch onto the ‘GT3’ runners.
Khun Jack got the job done though and chased his teammates home to bag the penultimate step of the podium, finishing just behind Khun Umar and clearly he had enjoyed getting into the cockpit of the latest version of the Reiter Engineering-developed Gallardo. “I would like to thank Reiter Vattana Motorsport for preparing such a good car for Class 1, the new RE-X,” he said afterwards. “The race was quite difficult because we had a few issues with the starter but we got it going in the end and I did have to start at the back of the grid but was happy to make it up to fourth to Khun Umar and so was happy with that.”
Super Car Class 2-GTM Saturday (Race 2 of 3)
The front row was the same as the previous day with Khun Darryl on pole and Khun Kantasak alongside it. In terms of the championship there was now a 15 point gap between the Ferrari driver and Khun Craig and with the New Zealander again starting down the grid, Khun Kantasak needed to finish just a couple of places ahead to wrap up the title with one race still to spare.
At the green lights there were to be no mistakes from Khun Darryl and the #27 Porsche was quickly in command for a second consecutive day as the pack safely navigated its way through the mountain section for the first time. Behind him Khun Kantasak assumed P2 but Khun Jack was flying and he passed the #34 Ferrari, using the superior brakes of the Gallardo to outbrake the youngster into Turn 18, the sharp right hander at the Cape, clearly though Khun Kantasak was choosing not to get involved in a scrap with the #44 Lamborghini when he was less than half an hour away from the title.
Khun Jack was the man on the move and the Lamborghini was flying as he hurriedly closed the two-second gap down to Khun Darryl who, unlike the first race where he had it pretty easy, was now being forced to work much harder. Khun Jack locked onto the Porsche and started to look for a way past, swarming down the outside as the pair thundered into Turn 21, the S2 Bangsaen Hairpin, although Khun Darryl had the line covered.
That battle raged until Khun Jack started flying – literally – on the ninth lap. He got caught out on the entry to the chicane and that saw him immediately out of shape and he hit the final barrier section head on, bouncing over it, skirting the steel trackside crash barriers and ripping the front end of the car off, ending up in a dramatic waterfall of coolant fluids. It was an unfortunate incident after a superb performance and robbed the fans of a dramatic fight to the flag for the victory.
Clearly though Khun Jack had the pace to push for P1 and the team reported the car was repairable so there was still one more race to go and not all was lost. He also had the consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race in 1:42.011, two tenths of a second faster than Khun Darryl’s best.
With Khun Craig again swallowed up in the midfield Khun Kantasak was in ‘autopilot’ for the title and he didn’t need to resist his teammate Khun Voravud who powered past him into Turn 1 and who had this time started in a more representative position on the grid after his 10-place penalty the day before. Khun Voravud took up the mantle of pushing Khun Darryl and closed in on the race leader and although a Safety Car bunched up the field he wasn’t able to get close enough to make a pass and the gap after 19 laps when the checkered flag waved was 2.4 seconds.
Khun Kantasak made it a 2-3 finish for Singha Motorsport Team Thailand which in championship terms was a 1-2 and that allowed the team to end the Teams’ championship year well out in front. It really was job well done for the Ferrari team as they wrapped up their second consecutive championship titles.
The new champion though had Khun Akihiro swarming all over him at the end and the gap at the finishline was just a tenth of a second as the red Lamborghini pulled out and raced side by side with the white Ferrari to the flag. That was the Japanese driver’s second straight podium in a car that clearly isn’t quite where he wants it to be.
Having missed the first race Khun Sarun showed no signs of ‘race rust’ as he squeezed the max out of his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, he was the first of the German sportscars in Thai ‘hands’ home. He turned in a smooth, fast and unfussy drive to nail down the final podium step and tenaciously clung onto the tail end of the top order fight as the gaps started to open up behind him. He certainly worked hard for that result and is rapidly becoming a highly polished sportscar driver while, as usual, pro driver Khun Keita Sawa was on hand and guiding him from the pitwall.
Clearly though the ‘997’ is no longer a suitable machine for Khun Sarun to take his career forward to the next level and it’s going to be very interesting to see which car he chooses for the 2016 season.
Sixth place went to Khun Nattavude. The Toyota driver was nearly 20 seconds behind Khun Sarun but backed almost all of the rest of the field up behind him as this experienced pro is pretty much impossible to pass here while the 86 has enough grunt down the main straight to keep everyone at bay. For a second day in a row the early race saw Khun Henk and the two new 991s of Khun Aekarat and Khun Suttiluck bunched up in frustration behind the #39 Toyota.
Three seconds in fact covered sixth to tenth and eight seconds covered sixth to thirteen. Right behind the #39 Toyota came Khun Craig and although he picked up 6 points it wasn’t enough to keep the title alive, however with Khun Voravud picking up a maximum score the New Zealander would now have to look behind him in the final race to keep the vice champions spot covered.
After the extended Safety Car period Khun Craig really saw the race come to him. He turned in a fighting drive to demonstrate exactly why he had taken the fight for the title all the way to the wire. Firstly he passed Khun Suttiluck at the restart through Turn 1 before closing in on Khun Aekarat giving him a tap through the hairpin and then powering down the inside into Turn 11. He then closed in on the Audi in front and pulled the same maneuver on the same turn the next time around. The New Zealander then jumped the gap to Khun Nattavude but there wasn’t enough time left for Khun Craig to try to find a way past.
Then came Khun Henk who had brake issues to contend with for a second day and the two Porsche 991s of Khun Aekarat, who chased the B-Quik Audi hard throughout the race for a second day, and Khun Suttiluck.
The rest of the finishers were made up of the second Toyota of Khun Nattapong in P11, Khun Bhurit’s Ferrari, Khun Shuipang’s Porsche, Khun Manat in the third factory Toyota, Khun Pinet, who enjoying his first race finish in his new Porsche and was the last unlapped runner, and finally Khun Thamrong who was having a second ‘race test’ in his new Ferrari and completed 17 laps.
Apart from Khun Jack, Khun Traitanit, who had a diff problem, notched up the only other DNF. Unfortunately the team didn’t have a replacement part available and that meant the big Nissan GTR’s weekend ended early, a real disappointment after all the hard work that was undertaken to get the car ready for the action.
Super Car Class 1-GT3: Sunday (Race 2 of 2)
There was a slightly unexpected winner on the top step of the podium at the end Sunday’s eighth and final race of the year as Khun Jack made up for a tough few days in Bangsaen by handing the team’s brand new second Gallardo ‘Extenso’ R-EX a well controlled win on its debut weekend.
Pre race Khun Tomáš had been expected to make a double Class 1-GT3 victory here for the second year on the trot something of a formality, that was until engine issues saw the Czech driver having to park the big Camaro up a couple of laps into the race and Khun Jack needed no second invitation to put some icing on the weekend as he powered up from Row 2 on the grid to claim P1.
It really had looked like a humdinger was in store when Khun Tomáš and Khun Jack lined up side by side on the front of the grid and at the rolling start the carbon ‘look’ #44 Lamborghini got the jump on the glossy black finished #25 Camaro through Turn 1 to lead the pack through Turn 2 and up the hill. With the fast starting Khun Narasak locked onto them the top three began to pull away.
As they came into the second lap Khun Tomáš made a carbon copy move through Turn 1 to snatch P1 back and this time the Camaro led the two chasing Lamborghinis into the mountain section but quickly the top two started to pull out a few lengths on Khun Narasak. It wouldn’t last long though as tell tale smoke came from the Camaro and Khun Tomáš limped off the track at the roundabout. Within a couple of laps a much-anticipated clash had ended prematurely. But while Khun Jack had clear air in front of the low-slung bonnet of the #44 Lamborghini Khun Narasak closed up the gap and the two ‘Extenso’ machines ran nose to tail for lap after lap.
It was pretty close in the end though as Khun Jack led Khun Narasak over the line in a perfect formation finish, the gap being just 0.132 seconds, as would be expected when two of Thailand’ most talented drivers were unleashed in the latest and most powerful version of Reiter Engineer’s long lineage of Gallardo racecars.
Khun Jack was clearly pleased to win although disappointed that he didn’t have the chance to try to scrap with the Camaro as the day before the leaders had been long gone by the time he had picked his way through the Class 3-GTC field after starting from the pitlane. “I was really looking forward to have a good fight with Tomáš as he’s an ex everything driver, including Formula One,” Khun Jack said. “He’s taught me so much and I cannot thank Tomáš enough for all that he has taught this year.
“Unfortunately Tomáš had some issues with the engine and [it] just shut down so I never got a chance to have a good fight with him,” he continued. “But I had a good fight with Narasak and won the race so it was a good finish to a weekend that didn’t go my way.”
A bit further down the road next home was Khun Umar who made it two third positions in two days in his Gallardo FL2, albeit this is a less powerful version that isn’t on a performance or handling level with the new-generation ‘Extenso’ version. That sealed a very decent weekend for Khun Umar who had to bounce back from setbacks in the pre race sessions that had left him on the back foot.
Super Car Class 2-GTM: Sunday (Race 3 of 3)
The third and final race of the weekend for Class 2-GTM, as well as the ninth and final race of the year, saw another polished lights to flag performance from Khun Darryl. Starting from pole he was again challenged from behind but he soaked up all the pressure to make it three wins from three races.
Once again it was Khun Voravud who took the chase to the Hong Kong driver and he claimed his second runners up spot of the weekend and also his second maximum score to vault up the final championship standings to third place having gone into the weekend sixth in classification. The outgoing champion didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend; he dug in to grind out the points after a carried over ten place grid penalty was applied for the first race and then banged in two runners up spots.
After a difficult start to the year, at Bira in September and again last weekend in Bangsaen he really recaptured the scintillating and consistent form that won him last year’s title.
During the race Khun Voravud kept up the chase of Khun Darryl but also had to fend off the Lamborghini of Khun Akihiro behind. He turned in the drive of the afternoon as he squeezed past Khun Kantasak early on and put pressure on Khun Voravud, but stuck in the middle of a Ferrari sandwich he had to watch his rear and while lining up to pass Khun Voravud he nearly let Khun Kantasak regain the place and with the two trading paint that settled minds somewhat.
Khun Akihiro certainly hasn’t had the best of seasons but three podiums in Bangsaen allowed him to haul himself up to fourth place in the final championship standings and squeeze the absolute maximum out of a car that by his own admission he was pushing right on the limit. However this underrated driver got the job done and capably flew the flag for Vattana Motorsport.
He was the team’s only driver to reach the finish as Khun Jack dropped out just before half distance when a component worked loose on the #44 Lamborghini. The team had worked well into the night to repair the car after Khun Jack’s spectacular accident at the chicane the day before but although he pushed his way up the order from the back of the grid it was to no avail after the car shed components and Khun Jack immediately coasted to a halt, an incident that saw the Safety Car being deployed to recovered the stricken Lamborghini.
Khun Kantasak followed the red Lamborghini across the line to take fourth place and close out the points’ classification in emphatic style. Coming into the weekend he had a two point deficit in the championship standings but he got the job done superbly and was never in trouble, romping away to finish the year with a 36 point advantage that the top, confirming his star status.
Khun Sarun grabbed the final step of the podium for a second consecutive day to end the year in superb style and he’s now clearly established himself as one of the top Super Car drivers at the end of his second season. He drove well and picked off a place early on at the expense of the #26 Audi to move into the podium positions. Certainly this driver will be looking to mount a serious challenge for the title next year.
Next up was Khun Henk in the #26 Audi and with the two B-Quik cars finishing P1 and P6 that gave the outfit its second Teams’ race trophy in three days. The Dutchman suffered braking issues with the car all weekend and three points finishes was an excellent end to what’s been an unrewarding season. Equally importantly Khun Henk kept the car in perfect shape as very late on Sunday night the team loaded it into a container to set off for Malaysia where it will contest the Sepang 12 Hours later next week.
After a DNS in the first race and a finish outside the points in the second, Khun Bhurit ended the year with a decent P7 and his first championship points of the weekend while also chasing the Audi in front across the finishline.
Then came the two new Porsche 991s of Khun Aekarat and Khun Suttiluck. Both cars are in ‘PCCA 2015’ specification having arrived in Thailand just a few days before the event kicked off but both drivers were quick and consistent all weekend, comfortably making the points paying places in all three races so expect both to be much more competitive next year.
The top ten was wrapped up by Khun Pinet who had a busy and productive learning weekend on his TSS debut in his new Porsche 997 GT3 Cup but ended on a good note with P10.
The final finishers were Khun Nattavude in P11 with the first factory Toyota home who struggled to the line with a damaged car which lost its right hand front wing in an early incident, then Khun Craig who gave the hairpin a good whack and had to take good care of the big Holden to the finish, but had still done enough by that point to secure the vice champions spot by a slender 2 points, and finally the other two Toyotas, Khun Manat in P13, one lap down, and Khun Nattapong in P14, two laps down. In fact Khun Craig’s team reported afterwards that the Holden’s right hand front tyre only had another lap or two left in it after that incident.
The DNFs were led out by Khun Shuipang who was called in by his pitwall with two laps to go as a precautionary measure after an engine warning light made an appearance, he was enjoying another very good performance and clearly has made a big stride forward this weekend in terms of both pace and consistency. Expect to see him continuing to push forward next year when he will have a new machine for Super Car Class 2-GTM to replace his ageing ‘997’.
Khun Thamrong meanwhile pitted at the end of the twelfth lap in his Ferrari and retired. He was continuing to learn about his new car but called it a day a few laps before the end so he could properly focus on his main commitment of the weekend, Super 2000, and with the touring car race immediately following the Class 2-GTM race he needed to switch over cars and get mentally prepared. Meanwhile, Khun Jack was the race’s final retirement; he had of course departed in quite spectacular trademark style on lap seven.